Turkey: Somalia Offshore Drilling Could Yield Oil in 6–9 Months; Parliamentary Scrutiny Over TPAO Concession Intensifies

Turkish Energy Minister Alparslan Bayraktar stated on April 11, 2026, that drilling operations at the Curad-1 well off Somalia's coast could yield oil within six to nine months, depending on sea conditions and weather. The Curad-1 well is located approximately 370 km off Mogadishu's coast and targets depths up to 7,500 metres — potentially placing it among the world's deepest offshore wells. The operation involves around 500 workers aboard the Çağrı Bey drilling vessel. Bayraktar described the project as Turkey's first deep-water drilling venture outside Turkish territory and a 'historic' step in Turkish energy expansion, adding that the results would be closely watched by regional investors and energy companies. In Somalia, parliamentary debate over the TPAO concession terms intensified: opposition MPs continued pressing for disclosure of the full fiscal terms of the 15,000 km² three-block exploration agreement, noting that the deal was finalized without comprehensive parliamentary scrutiny. Analysts pointed out the difficult timing — with Somalia's constitutional crisis unresolved and the April 14 parliamentary mandate expiry hours away — raises legitimate governance questions about the durability of executive-level agreements made without full legislative endorsement. Somalia's immediate revenue from the exploration phase is expected to be minimal; any commercial oil production remains years away even under an optimistic 9-month discovery scenario.